Wednesday, January 10, 2007

This past couple of weeks has been a whirlwind of tastings, some my first as a judge. While it can be odd, I found that drawing on a structured points system has been a great way to use all this useless culinary knowledge. Last week, I was honored to judge wines on a panel put together by Chef Thom England at Ivy Tech, and this week, I've been one of four judges rating soup for the upcoming Dine Magazine Best of Indy. Not only have we had some interesting and delicious soups, but we've learned to pace ourselves. We'll have tasted nearly 90 soups, stews, broths, chilis, chowders, and purees by the end of this afternoon. Thanks for Dine for asking and also Chef Tony Hanslits at the brand spanking new Chef's Academy for hosting us.

(And, for those who are asking, yes, it's difficult to taste so much soup! Over a four hour period yesterdat, we tasted, rated, scored, then sipped water -- because soup can be salty! We're were all stuffed at the end. On the other hand, soup is good for you, right?)

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